@ Pueblo, CO
September 2018
Another gem from my first visit to the Pueblo Weisbrod Aircraft Museum. The Grumman F11F/F-11 Tiger was a supersonic, single-seat carrier-based fighter aircraft in operation during the 1950s and 1960s. First flown in 1954, only 200 of these fighters were produced and only saw carrier duty from 1956-1961. The short career was due to performance issues and an unreliable engine. The Tiger was notably used by the USN Blue Angels flight team from 1957–1969. The F-11 Tiger is also noted for being the first jet aircraft to shoot itself down. During a September 1956 test flight, the pilot fired two bursts of the 20mm cannons midway through a shallow dive. As the trajectory of the rounds decayed, they ultimately crossed paths with the Tiger as it continued its descent, disabling it and forcing a crash-landing of the aircraft which the pilot survived. Fuji X-E2s w/18-135mm.